Sportsnet Luke Fox - NHL Off-Season Power Rankings: Who’s improved most (so far)?

[DominicT]

It’s ok to direct this solely at me I’m very comfortable in my new found Leafs and all things Leafs hate

They suck

Why would I direct it at you Dan-o

 

[DKH]

I overreacted and am humiliated.

If HF had a high school no way I would be going any time soon.

I also actually read his article and couldn’t agree more with Tampa getting 2nd spot for being on the brink of almost signing Karlsson.

Being on the brink is better than not being on the brink you know

Luke nailed it on Halak cashing in at age 33 after his worst year since he joined the NHL

Love the Leafs at #1 spot. Stinks they couldn’t sign BFOJT Calvin De Hann with a 1 year deal but no matter I’ve read he would be a 7th Defenseman in Toronto- a depth guy

Sorry for the overreacting folks

 

[easton117]

They really can't wait to see the Bruins go down in flames, can they?

Hey, the feeling's mutual about Toronto....getting really tired of this crap and we're not even midway through the summer yet

It’s an annual thing up here. Boston is written off every year.

Hell, sights like TSN and Sportsnet miss the Bruins game logs throughout the year. Highlight packs, unless Marchand does something stupid, are a rarity.

They treat the Bruins like the crazy guy on the subway. If they don’t acknowledge they exist maybe they will leave them alone

 

[KnightofBoston]

I’m with Dan, the list makes some sense but the leafs suck up fest has left a bad taste in my mouth anytime anything comes out of Toronto or anoints the leafs number one.

 

[Mick Riddleton]

Excellent, we are under dogs again. Lets surprise everyone like they did last year. Keep pumping the leaf tires, it will over inflate eventually.

 

[KrejciMVP]

I’m guilty of attacking the guy and I did read his assessment but I now hate the ****ing Maple Leafs more than Montreal and find all of them suck ups and Leafs ball washers.

If I could write a script the Leafs score 350 goals and Matthews and Marner bird hit 100 points leading to $10 M + contracts and the Bruins beat them in the playoffs

There fans last year’s playoffs turned me sour and the media coverage and Leafs love is sickening

I hate hate hate them all

Until the leafs do something meaningful in my lifetime, I don't take them seriously. They could have Crosby and ovechkin and still choke in the playoffs. I don't hate them bc they've never been good enough to hate

 

[chizzler]

The off-season brings these articles all the time. Mostly opinions just like the draft winners and losers, even though we won't know for years. I don't read them at all. It's the same thing all the time depending on the writers opinion. I wouldn't take it as gospel.

 

[BMC]

I think you're downplaying the loss of Riley. Losing Rick is not a big deal because we have plenty of scoring depth from the kids on the wings but Riley was an extremely reliable 3rd line C who was able to fill on the 1st line for extended periods of time without much drop off in play. To go from that to not being able to even name our 3rd line C right now is a huge loss.

Quoted for truth.

Right now my only solution is for David Backes to take over #3 center spot whether he likes it or not. Maybe one of the Baby B centers can win the job in camp but who knows if any one of them is ready to make that leap

 

[Dr Hook]

Quoted for truth.

Right now my only solution is for David Backes to take over #3 center spot whether he likes it or not. Maybe one of the Baby B centers can win the job in camp but who knows if any one of them is ready to make that leap

This is what I think also- Backes needs to do it. Maybe that is the plan. I think we've all assumed (or maybe it was just me!) that when Sweeney said they would probably fill the 3c spot with an internal option that he meant one of the young Providence guys. But he could just as easily have meant Backes as the internal solution. It would make sense. Either that or one of the young guys is a lot closer than we think. Otherwise I can't see letting Riley Nash walk and nothing being done to bring in a replacement.

 

[DKH]

I missed this in my clouded mind from rage on Luke Fox assessment of the Bruins

‘Sensing they have a contender’

What a Smarmy opening

If 1986 ‘one strike away’ Red Sox and the 16-1 2007 Patriots had a child I want it to be the 2018-19 Toronto Maple Leafs

 

[GloryDaze4877]

What exactly is the problem? This is his clearly stated standard for this list:



And he has the Bs 13th, in the top half of the league.

So what did this guy do to get **** on? Which specific teams above them has had a worse off-season? Is it not even debatable? Are we debating egregious mistakes or preference gradients?

I hate that we do this ALL. THE. TIME. We take some columnist who has an absolutely acceptable opinion about the Bruins, a totally non-controversial, milquetoast take, and we rip on him like he's an untalented hack with a vendetta who has gravely insulted us. I don't know this guy, maybe he does suck, but this article and what he wrote about the Bruins seems totally fine, so why are we dedicating a thread to saying he's garbage?

I don't think what the guy wrote was particularly scathing, but I don't think it makes much sense either, and I didn't think his analysis of many of the teams was any good (not just the B's).

His clearly stated standard is ranking the teams on what they have done so far this offseason, but inexplicably, he has WPG 10th, ahead of ARI, LA, and BOS, when Cheveldayoff has done literally nothing this offseason but deal Mason and Armia to the Habs to clear Cap space for Stastny, who promptly left for Vegas. He also has not signed any of his RFA's (Lowry, Trouba, Morrissey).

How does that get them ranked above 21 other teams?

As far as the Leafs go, they signed JT...awesome. They also lost JVR and Bozak, no mention of that, and he takes a cheap shot at Komarov, who I always found to play hard for TOR in his tenure there. Also, since when does $11m per year qualify as a "hometown discount"?

I found this article to be kind of shoddy and more of a fluff piece than anything else.

As far as the criticism of the author goes, when you make your work public, isn't that part of the deal? If Dan or anyone else wants to go off on his take, it comes with the territory. At least that's what I have been told whenever people on HF say unflattering (and often baseless) things about players, coaches, FO personnel and I have objected to their characterizations.

That's not my style personally, but a lot of people here seem to do it, and I really don't see much of a difference between criticizing some puff piece and criticizing draft picks, trades, and signings where we probably won't have a good handle on the outcome for years.

 

[GloryDaze4877]

Anyway, I just clicked on this guy's bio to see what his qualifications were, and before I could get to that, I saw an article pop up justifying his NHL Award's selections.

I started reading, and thought his picks were ok, even though I disagreed with him somewhat. Then, I come to the Calder voting, and here were his 5 picks:

Mathew Barzal, New York Islanders
Yanni Gourde, Tampa Bay Lightning
Kyle Connor, Winnipeg Jets
Clayton Keller, Arizona Coyotes
Pierre-Luc Dubois, Columbus Blue Jackets

Barzal was a no-brainer, but my choice for #2 (and the majority of the voters) was Brock Boeser. You know, the Boeser that had 29 goals (and 55 pts) in only 62 games for the Canucks. He finished 5th in rookie scoring despite missing those 20 games and his P/GP was second to only Barzal. So, this jabroni leaves Boeser off his list, but includes Dubois, who had only one more point than Heinen, even though he played more than a minute and a half more per game (and with better linemates).

Obviously, he forgot about Boeser. It's the only explanation that makes any sense.

Am I allowed to call him a jabroni for doing that?

 

[DKH]

This writer either knows nothing about hockey or is a complete D bag.

Talking to friends today I haven’t seen because of vacations the signing they liked was Halak.

Rereading Fox he says ‘somehow’ Halak cashed in? Citing his poor save % for the islanders.

If Luke had been paying attention the past 10 years he’s underrated why Halak is top 20 save % alltime, top 35-40 in shutouts, and a good bet with Boston pads his win total and be it here or somewhere else surpasses 300 wins

I want to apologize for not ripping into this guy more - I’m embarrassed I missed a Leafs sympathizer take shots at our beloved B

 

[ap3lovr]

This writer either knows nothing about hockey or is a complete D bag.

Talking to friends today I haven’t seen because of vacations the signing they liked was Halak.

Rereading Fox he says ‘somehow’ Halak cashed in? Citing his poor save % for the islanders.

If Luke had been paying attention the past 10 years he’s underrated why Halak is top 20 save % alltime, top 35-40 in shutouts, and a good bet with Boston pads his win total and be it here or somewhere else surpasses 300 wins

I want to apologize for not ripping into this guy more - I’m embarrassed I missed a Leafs sympathizer take shots at our beloved B

Let Leafs fans have the off-season. They are just as passionate about their team as we are, and they have had a terrible history of mismanagement. They deserve something to get excited about. Our off-season moves have not been sexy, but they have been prudent.

 

[DKH]

Stick salute to Luke Fox

I googled up Luke Fox and Toronto Maple Leafs and read a bunch of articles.

Not surprisingly I was bang on about him but I have to give him a stick salute in his column about the 23 Leafs and their nicknames

It was adorable (pronounced: a-door-a-bull)

Luke brought back memories when I was a kid

Espo
Chief
Pie
Turk
Cheesy
Shaky
Muzz
Nifty
Ratty
Bubba
Stretch
Rat
Doakacola

Keep up the great Leafs coverage - quality information; he’s very good and will be my Leafs source this year